Thanksgiving in Sun Valley

I know what you're all thinking...weren't we just in Sun Valley for a family trip? And the answer to that question is "yes we were." This past June we had the annual Taylor Reunion there. I'm still not quite sure why we had the reunion there when we all knew it was the year for Thanksgiving to be there. It turned out to be just fine, though. Rhaegan loves Sun Valley and loved the fact that you can ice skate in the summer and in the winter. That was her favorite part. We had about 50 family members for Thanksgiving dinner (which in my opinion is way too many), we all ate a lot of great food and the kids all enjoyed jumping on the unoccupied beds up in the loft area. It was a good holiday for us and hopefully for everyone else. Rhaegan got to open her birthday and Christmas presents from Grandma and Grandpa Taylor since they weren't going to be able to be with her on the actual days. Of course she loved them! Thanks Reed and Jackie!!
The ice skating was Rhaegan's highlight of the trip. She loved going around and around the rink. It was, however, a little bit straining on the backs of Shae and Reed having to bend over for so long. What troopers!

The skates were the cutest things ever. They were so little. I didn't go skating because lets face it, I hate being cold and pretty much any winter sport. I did love watching Shae and Rhaegan having so much fun together.

We then had a great time bowling. The bowling shoes were adorable there as well. Rhaegan found a Scooby Doo ball so she was trilled about the whole thing. 10 rounds of bowling with 8 little kids took about 2 hours though which was not so fun.

We had a great time. Thanks again Reed and Jackie for everything.

Farewell to the Pacifier!

The Binky finally gone. After almost three years Rhaegan has finally parted with her favorite little friend. I have to defend myself and Rhaegan is saying that for the past 18 months she has only use a pacifier for sleeping. We never took it anywhere. It just stayed in her bed and was her little comfort. I admit that the transition from Binky to no Binky was harder for me than Rhaegan. She was still my little baby when I would see her with it in her mouth. Now it's gone and she is officially a "big girl." She's had it since day one and has loved it dearly.

We will miss the "baby Rhaegan" but we're glad she's growing up so nicely.

Farewell "Dalpy!"
(that is what she called it when she was little)

The most unlikely occurence...

Yep, I did it...
I went to the FIRST showing of the movie "Twilight." It was Friday morning at 12:02am and I was in line making my way through the enormous crowd that had accumulated over the past 12 hours. Yes, you read right...12 hours people stood in lines across the Utah valley in hopes of getting the best seat in the house. My friend Heather and I didn't really care where we ended up seating just as long as we sat together. Of course only getting there an hour early guaranteed us the front row of seats. The movie was very good but only because I had read the book so I could feel and understand the connection of the characters. If you haven't read the series then I don't think you will like the movie as much. However, if you're between the ages of 12 and 17 then that probably won't stand true. I have never heard so much high pitched screaming before in my life. It was a fun experience though. I'm glad I went and I would definitely recommend the movie to all you Twilight lovers. Thanks Heather for a fun night.

Mysterious Leg Pain

Ok...this picture has nothing to do with my post but I just love it and wanted to include something instead of just text. This was my little Rhaegan the day she was born. My good friend Stefanie took it and I love it. Okay, moving on...

So growing up my dad had to rub my legs every night because of those so called "growing pains." I still get them and I know I'm not getting any taller (wider maybe but not taller). So I truly believe that they are something else but that's beside the point. I unfortunately passed this wonderful pain on the my daughter. Last night Rhaegan wakes up crying so I go in to see what's wrong and all she can say is "my leg, my leg." I start to rub it and immediately her eyes close and she starts to fall back to sleep. Once I stopped, though, she was up and complaining again. I know that it was the first episode but I still can now sort of imagine what my dad went through for my comfort. Thanks, Dad!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SUZI!!!

Happy Birthday, Suzi!

We love you and hope you have a great day. Wish we could be celebrating this special day with you. Know that we're thinking of you always.

Love Kendall, Shae & Rhaegan

When Grandma comes to town...

My mom arrived in Utah on Thursday and everyday since then has been filled with fun and surprises. Her parents (Oma and Opa Plumb) celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary last month so all the kids decided to throw them a surprise party. My mom and her sisters arrived on Wednesday and Thursday and then it was off to preparing the special event. Friday we shopped and shopped and, oh yeah, shopped some more. Along with the food and decorations for the party our purchases included a new big girl bed for Rhaegan!!! She has still been in her crib and I figured since there is another child on the way it was probably about time to promote Rhaegan to a big bed. She loves it (well jumping on it at least).I loved this picture because it shows everyone how long her hair is. I just can't bring myself to cut it yet.
The big SURPRISE... my brother and his family decided last minute to make the long drive up to the party without telling my mom. The look on her face when they walked through my front door was priceless. I think the words "oh my crap" came out of her month at least 4 times. It was so much fun.

Then it was off to cooking. Well my mom did the cooking and I did the cleaning up. She made two salads that were both amazing. I will post the recipes later.


And of course Rhaegan was so excited to see her cousins. We hadn't seen Paige since she could walk so that was an extra treat for us.

Trick or Treat

We had a lot of fun this year on Halloween. Rhaegan is finally old enough to understand the whole trick or treating concept. She was so excited to show off her costume and to be able to trick or treat with her cousins. I was a little afraid that Rhaegan wouldn't go up a knock on the doors much less say "trick of treat." I was completely wrong (thank goodness). She walked right up to each door, opened her bag and patiently waited for her turn to receive her candy. It was so fun to watch. I can't believe how big and independent she's getting. We hope you all had a great Halloween. This was an amazing feat for Rhaegan to walk through this entrance. She really wanted the candy though so she put on her brave face and walked right up to the door. Getting her to stop directly underneath for a picture was a little harder though.
A little stop for a mommy/daughter picture.

As you can tell Rhaegan was a butterfly. She wanted to be Ticker Bell but the costume was too expensive and not warm enough so she decided to settle on the butterfly. She loved the wings and was always wanting me to take pictures of them.

Rhaegan and her cousin Atalya preparing to head out on the town.